An Oken in the Making
by Camy99
Summary: And I thought being best friends was difficult, try dating him. Is it possible to be too in love with someone? Sequel to 10 REASONS I CAN'T DATE OLIVER.
1. Psycho Lovers

**Note: So I know I said I'd write a sequel, but I really don't know how I could possibly do that right now considering I've been overwhelmed with school. So we'll ****see what this becomes. In other words don't expect anything near 25 chapters lol. For those of you who've never read 10 Reasons—WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Lol Just kidding. You don't have to to read this, but it'd probably help. Enjoy (:**

* * *

I squeezed his hand a bit and looked up at him hoping he was kidding. I even pretended to find it funny by letting out a small chuckle. I waited for the "Of course I'm kidding Lil-bug" followed by a bone-crushing hug or even a breath-taking kiss. You know, the usual.

But he didn't respond. His mysterious, velvet hair covered his face in a way so I couldn't watch his expression, and he made no inclination of shifting. I decided maybe his ability to always read my mind was injured today and spoke up, "You're kidding, right?" I spoke sweetly but tightly squeezed his hand again to show my determination for an answer.

Without looking at me, without stopping, nor even a second thought, he responded, "Um, no" the same way he had a few seconds ago when I asked him if he'd come support me during my play.

That was about all I could take. Theater was something he had encouraged me to participate in during our first year of college, and as much as I had wanted to refuse I didn't; I immersed myself into it to make him happy. Because that's what my life revolved around for the last 5 years (minus the few months when we broke up, if you want to be technical) and vice versa. This was the first performance of my last play and he was blatantly going to refuse to come? I stopped short thus forcing him to do the same then spun him around—time to pull out the But-I'm-Your-_Girlfriend_ card. I hated doing that because before dating we were just best friends (an odd kind of best friends, but best friends nonetheless) and I never got the hang of turning him into some sort of "boy toy"; but this was ridiculous. He still didn't look at me. This frustrated me in such ways my voice burst out in more of a growl than I intended, "OLIVER!"

Grayish-blue versus greenish-brown--we held a stare down. It barely lasted a second and I'm not sure who won when he asked, "What? You asked, I answered. I thought that was a yes or no question, not a yes or yes."

I raised my eyebrows and glared—if I could shoot fire at him through my eyes I probably would. "You're seriously telling me you're just not coming. Like…" I tried to portray to him my confusion, disappointment, sorrow, and what-the-freaking-heck-Oliver! feeling.

I think I managed to do so because he at least sighed. "Lils, I'm not 'just not coming', I can't make it. I promise to go to the second showing though, okay?" I opened my mouth to speak but he continued, "On the same note, I've gotta go. I'll see you later, I love you." With a peck on my cheek he ran off.

I stood there in front of our dorm building as my boyfriend disappeared into the crowd of other hurried students. It was times like this I wish we'd dated longer in high school. Back then he didn't have a job to run to, and I wouldn't have to already miss him. How lame.

--

"Oh dang!" Miley exclaimed.

"Oh double dang," our coffee-obsessed roommate, Jade, repeated in her light Spanish accent.

"Are you serious?" Miley asked.

"You better not be serious," Jade emphasized, something told me she had taken her intake of coffee which is triple your average person's dosage.

"Really, I think she gets it the first time around Jade," Miley shot at her and then returned to face me, "did he give no explanation?"

I shrugged as I fell into my bunk's pillow. Miley sat closer so she could put her hand on my shoulder; "I really don't know. He's been acting... weird, to say the least, all week. Probably longer, but I've been too busy to notice. I don't know. I'd ponder on it but, come on, it's Oliver."

"Yeah, he's not exactly the most complex kid," Jade threw in. Besides being a coffee-addict with a multicultural background, Jada Aimee-Lynn LaCroix hated Oliver. Okay maybe hate was a strong word—they really didn't get along. "Or even near complex. Let's just say in the world of complexity, he's a teensy speck of… _dust_."Really, _really_ didn't get along.

I looked at her and rolled my eyes, as I always did at an Oliver-related comment from her. I saw these all coming considering I used to be the repertoire of Oliver insults back in high school. And junior high. And elementary. Yeah, Oliver and I weren't always a bouquet of roses.

I sighed and kicked my legs childishly as a surge of anger burst through me, "WHAT'S GOING ON?" I sat up, frowned, crossed my arms—the whole 8-year-old tantrum look.

"Okay, okay, let's breathe," Jade took a sip of Coke (probably her third this morning) and then rolled closer to me on her desk chair. I drew in a short breath than exaggeratedly blew in her face making her caramel-chocolate curls scatter. Miley quietly giggled. Jade sarcastically raised her eyebrow and I mimicked her expression.

"Alright guys, seriously. Maybe… maybe he's just nervous about your birthday coming up in a few weeks!" Miley exclaimed, proud that she figured that out.

"Maybe he and his girlfriend have been overdosing on the irritating juices," Jade glared at me. I stuck my tongue out, she did the same, we laughed and then she added, "No but really, I think Miley's got a point. Guys…especially the Oliver type…tend to freak out about these things. I bet he's getting you the most amazing gift to let you know how much he _wuvs_ you."

I grinned. I hoped they were right.

**--**

21. Just like 13 and 16. Hugely fussed over yet no different from the previous age. I still had to attend all my boring classes. I still looked and sounded like Lillian Rose Truscott. I had the same nutty roommates. But most importantly I still had the same amazing boyfriend. Is it weird that this morning my first thought wasn't "Yay, I'm 21!" but more along the lines of "I can't wait to be with Oliver". Cheesy, I know, but this is why they're my inner thoughts and are to remain so.

I decided to curl my hair and apply a touch of make-up just in case I was to walk into a surprise of some sorts during the day. Does my English professor's sudden break down count as a big enough surprise? Because that's been the only highlight of my day. Both Miley and Jade were gone by the time I woke up but I found the "Breakfast Birthday Burrito" they concocted at who-knows-what-time in the morning. After filling myself with ingredients that shouldn't be ingested together unless wrapped beautifully in tortilla form, I sat through unbearable classes. I think teachers purposely made classes especially agonizing today so I would yearn for Oliver like a flower needs sunlight and water. And he was both.

I would have withered and dried off by the time someone suddenly whisked me to a corner as I was making my way to the cafeteria. Neither of us said a word until I got my fill of our short yet anticipated birthday make-out session. We usually didn't do these things in public, but give me a break it was my birthday!

As I finally decided to breathe, I looked up at him. "Happy birthday lovely," he wasn't smiling but instead let his eyes do the job and that was enough to make me grin widely.

"So…" I rocked back and forth on my heels as I held on to his jacket's pockets.

"Are you ready?"

"For?" I asked, feigning surprise.

"You don't need to know what for, you just need to know if you're ready," he winked.

I giggled. "I guess I'm—"

His latest favorite song interrupted me as it echoed from Oliver's pocket.

He pecked my lips, "Hold that thought." Then as he answered he held me against him as if not talking to him would make me disappear. I tucked my head into the crook of his neck and lightly kissed it to reassure him I would, in fact, not vanish. He looked down at me in the natural loving way I've never seen emitted from any other human being, so this time I held on to him to remind myself he was real. And mine.

"WHAT?!" He suddenly yelled killing my eardrums and breaking the peace we had formed. Still on the phone, he groaned and walked off. On his way, he quickly turned and whispered, "I'll be right back."

I pretended not be disappointed and sat against the wall not quite sure what to do with myself. I did what I usually did when I was trying to drift away from an unfortunate moment, and stuck my earphones in my ear, letting my music selections burst through.

He soon regained his presence beside me and said something I didn't want to hear, so I acted as if I hadn't. With music turned fully up, that wasn't too hard to do. "Come again?" I said quietly. I really hoped he would repeat something different for my own sake.

"Um, I can only take you out to a quick lunch. I have to go to work in 45 minutes."

I frowned but spoke without emotion, "Since when do you work midday on any of our birthdays? And what kind of crappy lunch are we supposed to have in less than 45 minutes?"

"I—It's… complicated." I rolled my eyes. Things were always complicated these days. Complicated and Oliver were never words to be associated so why did they have to nowadays? Especially today. He stood up, "But we should get going and make the best of what we have, don't you think?"

Too bad I had already decided this into the horrible day category. I extended my hand up, "Whatever." He sighed as he helped me up, knowing what mood I was officially in.

He looked straight at me, "I'm sorry babe."

"I know," I looked down, "You always are."

--

The drumming against the table had me on the edge of explosion. That and the infamous sentence "Just pick something!" was just pushing it.

I let the menu drop, "Oliver, I swear, you yell at me one more time, I'm going to murder someone. In that case, if I were you, I'd run."

"For goodness sake, Lils, I start work in half an hour, it takes me ten minutes to get there and we haven't even ordered yet." He didn't raise his voice, but used his ever-so-sarcastic voice that I could barely stand.

"Fine!" I screeched, "Just go to your stupid job. I'll order in due time and eat whenever I get my freakin' food. Thanks a whole bunch for the birthday lunch. Next time, _don't bother_!"

"Are you freakin' serious right now Ellie?! El—Lil—" He froze and whispered, "Oh dear God."

I also froze. Except I felt like a sensible glass and he was a soprano opera singer that shattered me to pieces. I realized I had literally frozen and stopped breathing when I suddenly gasped for air and choked on it and the tears which had apparently formed in the moment.

"Lilly…?" I could sense the fear and regret in his voice. I violently shook my head. He quickly made his way beside my chair, "_Lilly_, I know what you're probably thinking but I love you and would never do that. Please believe me. It's not what you're thinking. At all."

I shut my eyes tightly. I didn't want to speak, I didn't want to move, I didn't even want to breathe but unfortunately that last one was obligatory.

"Lils?"

"Don't you—Aren't you going to be late for… work," I spat.

He reached for my arms, "Lils I'm not leaving until you look at me."

I didn't want to. Goodness knows I really didn't want to. But sometimes parts of my body worked against my will. So I saw his pleading eyes and heard his sincere "I love you Lilly, I really do", and I didn't quite know what to do, so I just nodded.

He fixed my bangs and stared at me some more, then glanced at his watch and sighed. He caressed my cheek and wiped a falling tear, "I won't go anywhere if you don't believe me. Please tell me you do."

I looked down, "I love you too." He twisted his face a bit. I knew that wasn't exactly the respond he asked for yet he stood up, so I guess it was close enough.

"I've gotta go," he glanced at the door, then back at me. He looked like he was about to add something but couldn't come up with anything so simply walked away.

--

I stared out the window as my two roommates stared at me. I had dragged them both into our room before my drama rehearsal (well, they had actually followed me in after seeing my face and lack of responses to their 20 questions). Earlier this year, I had eventually accepted the unfortunate fact that I had an rehearsals while Oliver had free time, but today it felt like the most miserable circumstance. I was never the clingy girlfriend, but if I could have implanted a satellite chip in him before he left to let me know where he was at all times—well, that was crazy but I won't deny that I would have considered it.

I heard Jade flip through all her subscription magazines, for that's where she got all her answers to life, and Miley pace back and forth. I ignored it all and continued to stare at what would be a beautiful day. I wish it would at least rain so I wouldn't feel so alone in my misery.

_I love you Lilly, I really do_… I believed him. I fully did, but that didn't change how hurt I felt, although I wish it could. I sighed, rested my head against the warm window, and thought back to our laidback days of spying over the neighbor's fence. Simple days that I took for granted and now deeply envy.

Jade slapped her magazine against the ground, "Stupid magazines. Can't believe a thing they say." She suddenly jumped beside me, "I really don't know what to tell you right now. There was load of crap in there about him having a lot on his mind. But I don't blame you for not believe that."

I saw a darker shade of curls appear on my other side; "You don't actually think he's cheating on you, do you?"

I stared at a student chuck his empty bag of chips on the grass out in the court. Inconsiderate loiterer. "Do you?" I mumbled.

"Who knows what Oken does?" Jade said, and then I felt and heard Miley slap her arm and quietly smiled.

Miley looked at me, "I think… you guys should talk because knowing Oliver, I don't think he'd do anything to hurt you. Still, you'll never really know without talking about it. Ya know?"

I shrugged. Is drama the difference between 21 and 20? Because I'll gladly go back to 20, if so.

"How about after your rehearsal, we go pay Oliver a little visit at work, hm?" Miley asked, trying to make it sound like convincing a kid to eat their vegetables so they could go to Disneyland. Well, I never fell for that trick.

I turned around, an alarmed look clearly on my face.

"Yeah, that's a great idea, corner that boy down!" Jade added just as cheerfully.

I turned again to frown at her, "Uh, yeah, you agreeing only worries me more. I don't really feel like fighting with him any more today."

"Then don't fight! Keep it as calm as possible and let him know you're not there to squabble but to speak like the two mature people you are. Or at least the mature person that _you_ are."

I raised my eyebrows then looked at Miley, she still looked fully convinced it was a great idea. I shrugged, "…If you say so."

--

"I'll be back," he glanced at me, and I only raised my eyebrows. He thought for a second then went back inside the shop, "Maybe not. Come on, my shift ends in 20 minutes anyways. Would it kill you to let me go now?"

"Whatever Oken, but aren't you forgetting something?" Was the reply from who I'm guessing was his boss. I couldn't quite see inside the skate shop from where I stood, but I could tell it was a female voice. What happened to Mr. Cook?

Stuffing his jacket's pocket with something, Oliver walked back outside. He stood in front of me and I didn't bother show any expression—partially from my exhaustion after rehearsals and because I didn't want him to win me over just yet. He looked slightly uncomfortably however at the same time confident about something with that stupid mysterious grin of his—that I usually loved but right now only irritated me. "I know you came to get me, but can I take you somewhere?"

I felt reluctant; "Can we talk there?"

He knew he had already won; "All you want." He started the car; "So about earlier…"

"Don't even," I interrupted. "Can we just drive in silence?" We locked eyes for a second, and I emphasized my demand so he nodded with defeat.

Oliver and I had a weird attraction to the beach. It was a bit of a trip from the school, but we always managed to find a convincing reason to head there. I should have figured he'd take me here. When we arrived, I immediately took off my shoes to feel the warm sand glide in between my toes as we walked. Sometimes we held hands when we strolled around the beach—this wasn't one of those times. Yet the way our hands pointlessly hung at our sides, occasionally bumping into each other, just begged to intertwine. Still we managed to fight our impulses.

I glared at the smashing waves, perturbed. Not necessarily from what happened this afternoon, but because of the never-ending conflict I fought internally. I loved Oliver, which was obvious to anyone who hung around us for a few minutes. But it almost felt like a sort of psychotic love, as if I didn't think about it—I just _loved_. I disliked the idea he probably held that he could get away with anything because of how I felt about him; but he probably could.

I inhaled as much air as I could hold, and then relaxed. "20 questions," I stated. It was a sort of usual icebreaker for these types of conversations. I'm not sure when it started, but it worked best for us.

"Okay," his voice was low and matched the roaring of the sea. I plastered my arms against my sides to disallow them from tangling with him.

"Who's Ellie?" I blurted.

"My boss," he answered just as quickly.

This completely changed my following questions. "Is that the girl—I mean, woman I heard at the shop?"

"Girl, woman, lady, whatever. She's barely a year older than me yet she acts like my mother. Or worse." I could hear the dislike in his voice.

I took that as a yes. I wasn't asking for details, just answers. "What happened to Mr. Cook?"

"He's on vacation; she's his daughter."

I stopped myself from going "_OH_!" Instead I wondered why he hadn't informed me of this earlier. Would have saved a lot of tears and confusion. Leave it to Oliver to withhold important facts; I rolled my eyes and smiled. "So, you said her name because….?"

"Because I hate her. She does one nice thing for me, and she thinks she owns my soul. We fight all the freakin' time."

I tried not to laugh, Oliver was such a whiner it was adorable. I looked ahead, it was almost sunset. "So you hate me now?" I didn't say it seriously.

I felt his hair whip mine as he abruptly turned his head, "Of course not!"

I looked at him and realized this was the first time we looked at each other since we were out here. The setting sun emphasized the features of his worried face and the smoothness of his hair. I smiled, "I was kidding." He returned my smile, and our eye lock softened. I slyly slid my fingers between his. It was a missed touch.

"I'm really sorry. I was frustrated with her for making me work on your birthday, and I somehow transferred that to you. That's completely my fault; you didn't deserve to be yelled at. Especially not on your special day."

I smiled, his apology was unnecessary for I had long forgiven him but it was thoughtful and pleasing. "Don't worry about it. Just tell Ellie you have a girlfriend who can kick butt so to leave you alone. What'd she do for you anyways?"

I felt his thumb tap against mine nervously. "Um, about that…" I waited for him to continue but he suddenly changed subject. "You know why I love walking on the beach with you?" I just looked at him. "Because it brings back memories of six words that lead to an action, or something like that."

I caught up on what he was talking about and laughed. "I believe I said an action was worth six words. 'I want to be your girlfriend'."

He joined my laughter, "There you go."

"I wasn't exactly the most creative person. Hey, it worked so whatever," I nudged him.

"I know, I wasn't making fun. I think it was quite smooth. I just wish this could be that easy."

I nodded, then tilted my head, "Wait, what do you mean?"

Before I finished my question, he was fumbling with his pocket. We stopped walking as he exhaled, "I guess this will have to do."

"Just in case you think you're making sense, you're not."

He quietly chuckled and stood directly in front of me. I could practically breathe the air he spoke, or lick his nose—an odd amusement of mine. "You know we've never been apart, almost since we were born."

As he spoke he infused his eyes into mine, and I attempted to challenge his stare, thus not leaving much room for thought. "I know."

"You know I truly, madly, deeply love you?"

"I know. And I also know you just quoted a song," I smiled.

He squinted a bit, "But you know it's true. You love me too?"

It was a question, but he already knew the answer so I just said, "I know."

He grinned and suddenly he was no longer staring at me. He was on the ground. On his knee. This whole time, I hadn't bothered to see what he had fetched from his pocket. And now the gold band stiffly situated in a red velvet box glistened as the rock it held reflected the waves. I just stood there trying not to pass out as he spoke, "Ellie helped me pay for half of this, so she made me work double time. But it was completely worth it for I never want to have to be apart. Well, I know we may have to if we travel or something; who knows what the future holds but—what I'm trying to say is," he looked up at me and I bit my lip so hard I'm surprised it didn't gush blood, "Will you marry me?"

Even though I had expected that from the moment he kneeled, actually hearing it made my head spin. Not only did he love me, but he loved me enough to want to spend the rest of his life with me. I couldn't think of a single other man that would envision the same future. I stared at him; we're such psycho lovers. I nodded.

"Yeah?" he managed to squeak, I almost laughed as I wondered if he was even breathing.

I smiled until it hurt my face, "Yes."

I followed his hand as the ring I was admiring made its way to my own finger, and I couldn't help but cry. He stood back up, and if I thought I loved him then watch me love him now. I think I poured my heart and soul out in the kiss that followed, and no existing word could possibly describe it.

* * *

**Dear gosh that was long, but I finally finished! Yay! (: Expect…2-3 more chapters. Oh yeah, these psycho lovers aren't waving goodbye just yet. (I won't lie, the update won't be super speedy, but I'll try my best!) Review! xoxCamy **


	2. Emotional Lovers

**Alright, well I'm gonna start with: I hate my computer. Why? Oh maybe because it simply decides to breakdown at least once or twice a year, and my dad takes months to fix it. My sincere apologies (yet again, if you've read some previous writings of mine). Now that that's said, there's another matter at hand. '10 Reasons I Can't Date Oliver' was in Lilly's POV so I thought I should keep it that way for the sequel, but this story is so much more intricate than that, and there are many times when I need you to be aware of what the other characters are up to but not necessarily from Lilly's POV. So what I am trying to say is... I've changed the POV to third person. I hope this change is not too drastic; if so, let me know :) Enjoy.**

**----**

Lilly turned to face her wall, readjusted her pillow, and pulled her thick blanket over her neck--only to undo it all mere moments later. She sighed but kept her eyes welded shut. She had only gone to bed three hours ago, and she knew it was still earlier than 6:35 am because Jada's cell alarm hadn't gone off. No way was she going to sit around in the middle of the night doing anything else but sleeping. Even if her body stubbornly refused to.

After a bit more shuffling and readjusting, she finally let her eyes snap open which was useless for it was still just as dark as when they were closed. Groaning she shoved off the mad tangle of a blanket she had wrapped herself in, and stared at bottom of Miley's bunk though she knew she was seeing right through the bunk. No, not right through as in she could see Miley--she wasn't Superman now. No, she fully well knew what preoccupied her mind so much that she couldn't sleep, she just wasn't sure whether she should consider it a good thing or a disaster in the making.

She frowned and nervously tapped her hand against the wood sustaining her bed. She wanted to pretend to be surprised by the sound of metal clunking against it instead of her soft skin, but at the same time she couldn't pretend to ignore the suffocating feeling her finger emitted all night and subsequently keeping her up. Her heartbeat unvoluntarily sped up as she realized that even if this whole ordeal wasn't necessarily a disaster, it was definitly _not_ a good thing. She sighed then stuffed her face in her pillow muffling a curse.

--

Oliver's smiling face was inevitable during their first class together. Even when he wasn't actually smiling, one could tell from a mile away that he was at least thinking about it. What one couldn't detect from any distance was the girl that was supposed to claim the other half of that joy. As a matter of fact, there didn't seem to exist any emotion on her face. Her usual descriptive eyes only appeared more blank as time ticked by. When Oliver finally caught hold of them with his own, the confusion that replaced his smile only proved the point that soul-stealing aliens had attacked Lilly overnight. Or something of that sort.

When class ended, Lilly thoughtlessly followed her habitual path to her next class. Or was it lunch now? She had no idea, but figured her feet and hungry stomach would know where to go. It took her a moment to realize she was no longer walking. In fact, she was sandwhiched between a wall and her own boyfriend.. urr, fiancé.. person. This seemed to be his favorite way to corner her and she silently wondered if it was because that was how he had first cornered her the year they'd started going out thus bringing him some type of pride, or if it was really the only way he knew how to stop someone. Either way, it suddenly annoyed her.

He stared at her for a moment then, figuring he might as well, planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. He'd learned about disappointment fairly early in their relationship and no longer bothered to attempt lip contact if she showed the slightest hint that she might refuse it. Because she actually would. And that would torture him more than not even trying to start with. "You alright?" He spoke with slight intensity.

She immediately figured out what he had done and made up for the lost kiss. Even through her inability to sleep or feel, and sudden annoyance with normality, she couldn't deny she loved his kisses. "What would make you ask that?" She asked softly when they separated an instant later. She could see the battle of emotions fought in his eyes between kid-in-a-candy-store glee and must-take-care-of-my-girlfriend concern. She kind of wished he would just pick one but at the same time felt sorry for being the reason for his mini-dilemma.

She felt his fingers interweave their way between hers and then playfully twist the recently placed ring. She wanted to yell in pain even though she technically didn't feel any. Unless she somehow figured out a way to explain that that simple ring was suffocating her though she had no idea why and that playing around with it was like playing with her ability to breathe, she planned on keeping quiet. His glee quickly made a re-appearance as he smiled, "Just wondering, Lils"--only to be replaced by a concerned frown--"You didn't seem yourself in class."

She knew what he was getting at but she only shrugged. "Just tired I guess, I only got like four hours of sleep remember?" She didn't mention that she only slept for about one of them.

His eyes closed to a squint as he put on a--no, as he put on _the_ mischievious smile. "Lillian Truscott, was it really worth it to stay up that long?"

A small chuckle imerged from her before she could control it as she took on his signature smile, "I don't know, Oken, was it?"

He smirked, proud to accomplish his goal to make her happy. He announced to whoever was walking by, "And we have us a sudden recovery from Lilly Truscott. Yes ladies and gentlemen, service of Oliver Oken. Sorry for his unavailibility but he's currently engaged in another person's crazy life. Literally." He winked and she rolled her eyes. With another quick peck on her lips he added quietly, "But even that one person will need to make a later appointment because the mighty Smokin' Oken has a class of Photography 103 to attend. Later."

She smacked his arrogant self as he walked away. By herself again, the smile he had worked to put on her face eventually faded and a blank look hastily replaced it. Her ordeal was obviously something much deeper that even the services of the might Smokin' Oken couldn't solve. Especially if he might be more engaged in it than he thought.

--

Jada made a speedy turn in her chair and glared at the blonde that had been holding a metal against wood noise battle for the last thirty seconds. "Do you mind?"

The blonde immerged from her open-eyed sleep, and although she recognized a voice most likely speaking to her, she had no ability to decode the words. "Huh?" She asked innocently.

"Every clock in this room is ticking completely off from each other, she's"--referring to Miley on the top bunk--"listening to crap she calls music at an insane volume, and you're carelessly tapping away agaisnt your bed. _Someone_ had to be stopped; congratulations, you were the lucky winner."

Lilly's mouth had dropped halfway and she blinked once slowly. "Uh... okay?" Obviously none of that had made it through to her brain.

Jada rolled her eyes and returned to her work. Although it didn't surprise her, she couldn't help but be frustrated when Lilly unconsciously returned to her nervous tapping. "Really? This had to be happening right now? In the middle of my 12-pager?"

"...Huh?"

"Oh heck no, we're not going through that again. Miley, your friend is having some sort of nervous breakdown. Please help her before I resort to murderous outlets. Now I love her just as much, but concentration is of the virtue here."

Miley happened to glance down from her bunk in Jada's direction soon enough to see her lips moving. She frowned, "SAY WHAT NOW?"

"Fricken son of a gun, I'm living in a mental institute!" Jada forcefully stood and yanked Miley's earphones off. "Lilly. Tapping. Make it _stop_."

Miley flung her head under her bed and at the same time flinging her extra long brunette curls along. Before saying anything she analyzed the scene. Although Lilly's eyes were staring right at her, Miley knew Lilly couldn't see her. Already getting annoyed within just a few seconds, she shifted her eyes over to what Lilly was so constantly tapping. Her eyes immediately narrowed, "Woah there buddy, that's an interesting rock you've got shinin' on your finger."

That seemed to be an instant waker-upper for Lilly. "What? What ring?"

"Um, I don't know. Maybe the one on your--Lilly, um, you do know if you put a ring on that finger, especially of that size, it means you're engaged?"

At this, Jada immediately turned her attention to the conversation happening behind her.

Unfortunately, Lilly had moments when she did not think as she spoke. This would be one of those moments. "Oh really? Hah! How embarrassing! I didn't know that. I thought it was... some other finger... somewhere." And it really did not help that she failed at lying.

Both Miley's and Jada's face showed their disbelief. Either that or worry that their roomate may have actually lost her brains. Lilly wouldn't bother to argue such an accusation because she wasn't too sure what was happening to her either.

"Okay... But that's still a pretty expensive looking ring, dear." Miley was already using her "dear" talk; now it was just time for her to ship Lilly over to a mental hospital.

"It's, uh, my grandmothers. Got it last night. From my grandma I mean. Well not _from_ her because she's dead, hah! But you know what I mean--Jada, what's your paper about?" The intensity of the alerted looks on her roomates' faces, let Lilly know it was time to change subject. Even if not done in the smoothest of ways.

After one last scrutinizing look, Jada shook it off. "You know my rule. I won't tell you until I'm done which won't probably be until tomorrow night, or probably Saturday morning. I can't afford to stay up past two on this baby tonight."

"And you know what, I can get out of first period tomorrow and take you to breakfast. How does that sound Lilly? We could even elaborate on your.. grandmother's ring," Miley grinned at Jada who just shook her head before turning back to her work.

Lilly simply nodded because she had silently decided that she wouldn't get the opportunity to hear what Jada's paper was about. Nor would she be around to have breakfast with Miley to elaborate. No, because by that time her car would be parked in a driveway of a blue, 2-story house. And she would be buried in a bed once closely familiar to her.

Somehow Lilly had calculated this little plan: if Oliver couldn't find her; he couldn't marry her.

**----**

**Lilly this whole chapter cracks me up. She's so out of it, it makes my day. Hopefully she gets it together, huh. So I know it's been a while, but I still love me some nice reviews (: Mean ones are cool too... I guess. xoxCamy**


	3. Separated Lovers

** Enjoy (:**

* * *

Her eyes teared up as she drove for two hours and though she held them back, Lilly couldn't help but let them roll freely as she looked up at her old place of residence in her hometown of Malibu. Even less could she help lying to her overly surprised mom. "Can't a college girl want to suddenly visit her mom on a Friday morning?" She shrugged, her eyes puffy from wiped tears.

Her mom simply held her hands and stared questioningly at her only offspring whom she hadn't seen in nearly a year and a half. Lilly knew that when her mom would hold her hands, that would be all she'd feel because the bulging rock that would have aroused many questions had been secretly placed in her pocket the minute she arrived--along with every tale behind it. Lilly figured it was to the best of everyone's interest on this little getaway if she at least attempted to pretend she wasn't in the middle of a major breakdown.

It didn't help though that within the canons of questions her mom shot at her one of them had to be, "How's Oliver? You guys okay? I mean are you still together? The Okens and I haven't heard from either one of you in so long!" More of a three-in-one type of question.

She shrugged again, "He's fine, mom. And yes, we're still.. together." She hadn't meant to pause, and although it was minute and bearly noticeable, it irratably resounded in her head like one of those ridiculously high-pitched bells. _Why'd she pause? _Her mom just smiled and didn't question any further, and then released her daughter to settle in.

Lilly entered her room and dropped all her things. Before she could reminisce through the cloud of memories circling her room, before she could start feeling guilty about leaving without notice, and before she could plan out what she would say when Miley, Jada, or of course, Oliver started calling in worry, she collapsed on her bed and finally slept.

--

It had to be the 50th time she'd checked her phone. Why didn't she have a bunch of concerned voicemails to listen to and then ignore? Had nobody even noticed her sudden disappearance? Okay well maybe she had gotten two calls from Miley--both asking for a shout out reassurring she was still alive-- and a simple text from Jada, "_r u gone 2 cure ur tapping problem? lol just dont do anything I wouldnt do hun_". But obviously Lilly wouldn't be satisfied until she went through listening an overfilling inbox of messages from Oliver. She quickly wondered if the whole reason she left was to worry him, but immediately dismissed the idea and snapped her phone shut.

"You still love Frosted Flakes?" Her mom asked as they turned into the cereal aisle of the supermarket.

Lilly looked up with a small smile, "Always."

As a mother, Heather Truscott easily read through her daughter's actions and this time thought she should intervene, "Hey, don't worry about it."

Lilly glanced at her mom questioningly, "Don't worry about what?"

Except her mom kept going as if she hadn't intervened at all, "I started trying these fiber-filled cereals last year, and they're actually not that bad. I mean, I'm not on high alert about my fiber lever but hey, why not be healthy while I'm at it, right?" Lilly frowned at her mom but couldn't help but laugh--her craziness had to come from somewhere.

--

Though Lilly had a agreed that she wouldn't worry she couldn't help but check her phone another few times as she walked to Rico's the next day. All with no results. She decided to hold the idea that her phone was having some major issues with Oliver's, deciding not receive any of his calls. Yeah, that's what it was.

As she walked she considered visiting the Oken's, but she felt like it would be a bit hypocritical of her. "Hi Mary and Mr. Oken! Yeah, I ditched your son and drove all the way up here, so I thought I'd come say hi." Yeah, not so much. Either way they probably wouldn't be home with their busy schedules. Or at least she used that as her safety net.

She next considered ordering her usual drink and taking a walk down the beach but then realized that the point of this getaway wasn't to attempt missing Oliver in all possible ways. Walking down the spot where they got together would be self-destructive and she already felt like her sanity held on tightly to a thin string. So she steered far of as many Oliver-related things as physically possible (considering her entire life was Oliver related) and tried her best to enjoy her time at Rico's once again.

"Hiya can I help you?" A young high school student asked her--at first carelessly but then with a double-take took in the blonde, tanned, college girl look his required worker's smile turned into a hungry grin within seconds.

As stupid as she felt it took Lilly a second to realize that it wouldn't be Jackson nor Rico on the other side considering they both currently lived out of town. The boy's flirty look snapped her back to the real world. The world where she was now older than the people that worked here. "Um, hi..ya.., I'll, uh, have a, um..." For a moment she didnt remember what her favorite drink to get was and recalled it was because she hadn't had to order it in years. A certain _someone_ always ordered for her. She frowned and slammed her hand on the bar, scaring the young thing and probably losing her attrative factor. Oh well. She smiled and regained her composure, "Do you still have that one drink with, I believe, banana and something else."

"There's the banana only smoothie, banana-mango milkshake, strawberry-banana milkshake--"

She accidentally slammed the bar again, "That one! Aha! I knew I could remember my own favorite drink. Stupid boy think he can make me forget."

Now the boy looked a mix between afraid and annoyed, "Um, what?"

Lilly shoved her bangs out of her eyes and stared at the boy standing in front of her. He sported the same haircut (or lack of haircut) that Oliver used to and the shade was as dark as how Oliver had recently dyed his. She wanted to burst out laughing at how without even trying, things that made her miss Oliver attacked her. She refrained from the outburst though and just smiled, "No not you, my boyfriend. When we lived here he used to order for me so much that I forgot"--she looked up--"you don't care, do you?"

The boy raised his eyebrows, clearly amused. "Nope not really. Especially since you just point blank killed all my chances with you," he winked.

"Pff, sorry dude but I'm 21, a junior in college," her eyes widened as she mumbled the rest to herself, "and engaged.. I'm becoming an Oken. Maybe."

The boy put down what he was doing and approached her, "Um, by Oken you don't mean _Oliver_ Oken, do you?"

It was now Lilly's turn to raise her eyebrows, "You know him?"

"Know him? He's like a lengend at the skatepark!"

Lilly covered her mouth and muffled laughter. "You're kidding. Oliver? A legend? Come on, I beat his every trick! You think I'd deserve some recognition."

Just then the boy completely froze and his face lost all vital signs. An alarmed Lilly waved her hand about his face until he blinked again. "Th-that means you're Lilly. Lilly Tr-Truscott. Oooh my gosh."

Lilly grinned joyfully, "And you know my name! Hahah, I feel famous."

He blinked a few more times then seemed to regain the blood in his face. Almost excessively actually. "Wait, you guys are dating? _Engaged?_ I thought you hated each other!"

"Yeah well..." Lilly shrugged not quite sure what to say. What does one say to something like that anyways?

By now, the boy's over-excitement was apparant from a mile away. "Wait till the guys hear that I got to talk to you, much less serve you your favorite drink!"

Lilly just laughed, "Talking about the drink..." And the boy returned to his work but with a new jolt in his movement.

Lilly rolled her eyes. She and Oliver had become "skatepark legends". She knew it was nothing huge around all of Malibu for there were "legends" when they lived there too, but they were the highly set bar at the skatepark for newcomers. Her pride showed as she happily sipped her drink. She snapped open her phone ready to let Oliver know of their mini-fame when she remembered that she had kind of ran away from him. They weren't officially on non-talking terms but running away from your fiancé probably came with that side effect. She sighed and tried to think up what she'd do next.

--

Even though the day was only halfway in, Oliver had completely exhausted himself. He went into his dorm, and was glad his roomate Eric wasn't there. Probably at a soccer game, something he would be doing if every bone in his body wasn't focusing on trying his best not to take the phone and call her--again and again and again. He knew she'd call if she really wanted to talk to him, but his patience ran short.

He decided to resort to shooting magnetic darts at the board hanging on the wall across his bed. He was never necessarily amazing at this game but he usually at least got it within range. He sighed and gave up on that too when he hit the window a few times too many. He looked around his room, catching a glance of a picture of Lilly and him. Did there exist any sort of pasttime that could make him feel better about his fiancé running off? He looked at his phone again for the millionth time that day, and once again dismissed the idea of calling her. He covered his face with his hands and attempted the 'happy thoughts' thing, but that only got him thinking even more about her. He wondered if she knew how expertly she was at torturing him.

At that same moment, his cell rang. The shock almost gave him a heart attack and for a while he just stared at it until he regained use of his limbs. At the same time his hopes trickled back down as he remembered that she had a specific ringtone and that wasn't it. Nonetheless the caller ID did surprise him, "Hello?"

"Oliver! Hi!"

"Um, hey. It's been a while. What are you up to?" Compared to the voice on the other side of the phone, he sounded half-dead.

"Well, I came down to Malibu yesterday and it reminded me of you so I thought I'd call! How are you?"

The name of his hometown sent Oliver's mind reeling. "...Wow. I'm, uh, fine. I guess," he mumbled.

There was a slight pause. "Is.. everthing alright?"

Oliver closed his eyes in thought, "Did you say you were in Malibu?"

"Yup, for the next two days."

Oliver stared out the window as his idea formulated, "Hmm, well to tell you the truth I'm not alright but there's someone you can pay a visit to for me while you're there that could help..."

--

A few hours later, Lilly had resorted to swimming in the cloud of reminiscence that was her room. Lying on one side of her she had an arrangement of picture frames of her with Oliver, or Miley, or both. In her hand she held the few pictures she had stashed in her wallet, and she compared both sets examining every difference from how they looked to how they seemed to act around each other. The older pictures of Oliver would make her bite her lip and giggle as she remembered all the little things she loved about him. From his "cool squint face" he would put on to look, well, cool. Or how he would try to hide the smile in his face in the pictures where she crushed him with a hug, pretending not to enjoy it. Even Miley as she got more and more used to their relationship as the years went by.

Not that recent pictures didn't bring as much joy. He was no longer afraid to look her straight in the eyes to show his love, even through a snapped capture in time--a perfect time. Not that things weren't great between them now. Fantastic even. That is if you didn't count the last few meltdown days. In just two days, Lilly had managed to come up with enough reasons to leave the one person who would complete her day and this was after accepting to be with him forever. And always. Always and forever.

She took out her ring and sighed as she stared at it. It's not that she _regretted_ any of it, she--

"Uh, Lilly you've got a... um, could you come down here?" Her mom spoke from downstairs. Her tone hightened Lilly's curiosity.

When Lilly landed downstairs, her mom was no longer there but someone else sat on the island stool. A huge grin appeared on their face, "Lilly. Hi!"

The amount of shock Lilly had reached unabled her to even appear surprised. Her eyes didn't widen nor did her jaw drop. Her face possibly paled, but that was beyond her control. What she could control were her words. So of all things she could possibly say at this moment, when she opened her mouth all she could ask was, "What the heck are you doing here?"

----

**Oh, who could it possibly be??? Review your guesses why don't ya? (: xoxCamy**


	4. Jealous Lovers

**I realized I have yet to put a disclaimer on this story so.. Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Hannah Montana **_**or any of its characters. I do own my made up characters and the idea of this story. Yay, now that that's over with.. enjoy (:**

**----**

Her visitor smiled obviously not taken aback by Lilly's tone. "I had a feeling you'd say something of that sort."

Lilly raised her eyebrows. She may have traded her once platinum blonde waves for a dark chocolate waterfall and grown a few inches, but Katalina Murphy was still her overly happy, bohemian-dressing, and annoying self even three years later. "Okay. Well I did, so, what are you doing here? I ask again." The fight that had been Lilly versus Katie during their senior year of high school had been a... well, interesting one to say the least. And of course, who else but Oliver to be the cause of it all.

"I came down from NYU to visit for a few days, and when I heard you were in town too so I thought I'd visit," Katie shrugged.

Lilly narrowed her eyes, "And you expect me to believe that?"

Katie stood and stepped towards her, only making Lilly unconsciously step away. "No, but that's the story we're gonna need to go on." Even though Oliver hadn't necesarrily told her not to, Katie figured it was a better idea not to mention their earlier conversation. Not yet at least.

"Right... so why are you here? I mean, what could possibly make you think that if I hated you the last time I saw you, I'd like you now," Lilly crossed her arms.

Katie smiled yet her words came out coldly, "Well, you got what you wanted didn't you? I thought it meant you'd finally be happy. But there's no pleasing Lilly Truscott is there!"

Lilly glared at her, "Shut up."

Katie forced her eyes shut as if forcing the anger out of her, "Okay, sorry. Look, before I talk to you about what it is I came here for, I think I should clarify exactly what was going on between me and Oliver and you and all that confusion senior year."

"There is nothing to clarify," Lilly snapped at her, "We broke up, you saw that as your super opprtunity to steal him away from me, it didn't work. We're together, _you're _not. The end."

Katie laughed, but it was a sarcastic one. "Oh, don't even try to act like there wasn't way more to it than that. Don't you mean _you_ broke up with him, and then pushed him towards _me_ to get over you? Only to get jealous, and downhill it went from there!"

It wasn't hearing Katie yell that frightened Lilly, but knowing that she was telling the truth. She looked down and mumbled, "Doesn't mean you had to kiss him." She remembered the pain she'd felt that day when she walked in on them. Even with a horrible memory, some things just never leave your head. And just when you think they did, certain people liked to stir them back up to the surface.

"Okay first off, _wow_, kinda thought you'd be over that by now. Second--"

Lilly's head snapped back up, "You lied to me! I remember specifically asking you if you did have a crush on him, and you said you didn't. Well girls don't tend to go around kissing guys and being all over them if they don't like them!"

Katie grew impatient and groaned, "They do if they're trying to make the ignorant ex-girlfriend jealous in hopes of getting him back together with her! So that maybe, when they'd hold a conversation her name wouldn't come up every second! Or maybe, when they'd get too close and kiss, he wouldn't be thinking about her the whole time!" Lilly just stood there kind of taken aback by what she was hearing. "So even if you were right about the fact that I had a slight crush on him at first, I quickly came to the realization that the only girl he could end up with happily would be you. Hence why I did everything I could to get you back together. It was hard, but tadah." She sighed and smiled again, "Told you there was a lot of clarifying to do."

Lilly frowned, "Why did you want him to go to NYU with you then?" Lilly remembered the rush of emotions from when Oliver had told her he was leaving for New York to when she finally admitted she loved him and couldn't let him leave. Having a minor in theatre was a fantastic idea after all, considering how much she could cause within one schoolyear.

Katie chuckled and shook her head, "That was in no way my idea. He had to convince me for that one. What with 'But NYU is a great school for visual arts' and yaddy yadda. I knew all along he had decided that he was either gonna be with you or leave you altogether. I thought the whole time it was a ridicuous idea by the way." She shrugged, "No, Oliver's an amazing guy, but I knew he wasn't for me. Or at least, I wasn't for him."

By now Lilly was completely shaken. "Wow. If I could call him to tell him we were actually having a conversation without strangling each other right now, he'd never believe me," she smiled faintly.

"Why can't you call him?" Katie spoke slowly trying to hide her knowledge of the situation.

Lilly looked to her side as she bit her lip, "Oh, uh, nothing. It's kind of complicated and long."

"_And_ the exact reason why I'm here." Lilly looked back at her scrutinizingly, and Katie just grinned. "Running off, Lilly? Really? That's your best solution?"

Lilly rolled her eyes, "I knew somebody sent you. You may be ridiculously sweet, but you're no angel."

Katie laughed, "Talk to me then. I know I'm not your bff or whatever, but apparently you ran away from them too so I'm your last resort."

"No, really, it's much more complex than you think."

It was Katie's turn to roll her eyes, "You're truly something Lilly. After all these years you finally get the chance to be with Oliver for _life_, and you want to blow it all off. Yet again. Seriously, do you not learn the first time?"

"Excuse me but there's is more to it than that and--woah, how do you know we're engaged?"

"Uh," Katie quickly thought, "It's kinda written all over your face, I'm not that stupid."

Lilly raised her eyebrows. "Maybe not, but you're not a mind reader either." She gasped then pointed to her accusingly, "You talked to Oliver!"

"What? Why would you come to that conclusion? We haven't spoken in years." This was true, if the earlier conversation was ignored.

"Uh, maybe because only he, his boss' daughter, and I know about it." Which reminded her to lower her voice so that this wasn't how her mom had to find out.

"His boss' daughter?"

"Yeah, I know, kinda random," she dismissed it. "Wait, how did he know I was here?"

Katie crossed her arms and stared at her amusingly, "You still have to ask me how Oliver knows your every move as if they were his own?"

Lilly slowly nodded, "Oh." As they stood there silently for a bit, she realized how weird this day was becoming by the second. This whole time Oliver knew exactly where she was. Did that explain his lack of worried calls? Or was that why he'd sent Katie?

"Just please tell me that you didn't come here because you were changing your mind about marrying him."

"Why not?" Lilly ask tauntingly.

Katie's eyes widened, "Because, you guys love each other! You belong with him, and he belongs with you. I haven't seen you in three years and I can tell you guys are still crazy in love. What more is there to it?"

"Maybe _now_, but we used to hate each other. What tells you some time down the road we won't start hating each other again?" She leaned against the fridge and held herself in case she brokedown. She hadn't really put too much thought in what exactly it was she feared, and finally saying it only made it scarier.

"You're kidding right?" But looking at her, Katie could tell Lilly wasn't kidding. "You know what, I may not have known you two forever, but I know that whole thing about you guys hating each other is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. You may not have gotten along, but--ugh, I don't even how to tell you this. You two are meant for each other and have always been. That's all I can say." She stared at her trying to see if any of that had gotten through. When Lilly only looked down, she sighed. "I did what I had to do so I guess I'll leave now. It was nice seeing you again Lilly. Oliver wasn't kidding when he continuously called you beautiful. If anyone was ever jealous, it was me of you," she smiled, "I just wish you'd listen to all those love songs and romance movies and what not, and just 'follow your heart', you know?" With that she walked to the door.

With everything that had happened that day Lilly looked up at her teary eyed, "When you talked to him... did he sound worried? Like even a bit?"

Katie turned around with none other but a grin on her face. "He couldn't have sounded more worried if there was a war going on right outside his window."

Lilly sighed, for some reason relieved.

"You know what, I hear there's gonna be a party at the beach tomorrow night. We should go," Katie suggested.

Lilly couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, "_We?_"

Katie backtracked, "Or _you_ could go.. and I'll just happen to be there too. Either way, it'll do you good to just have fun, you know."

Lilly nodded, mostly to make her go away, which Katie comprehended and left.

--

Someone stood in front of her, and although she could neither hear nor see them, her mind knew it was Oliver. She hadn't heard him say anything, but a few seconds later she felt her engagement ring sliding down her finger. As if there had been a flash of lightning, she momentarily saw his glowing face. "Will you marry me?" he asked.

The whole thing was out of order, and instead of the beach in Santa Barbara, the proposal was set at the skatepark in Malibu. But Lilly didn't seem to take note of any of this. "Are you sure?" she attempted to ask, but though her lips moved, nothing came out. She tried again until the sudden realization that she was mute hit her.

Oliver went on happily as if she had accepted. He grinned, "Really?"

"No, not really! Well, not no, but--"

"This is great! I love you so much."

"Oliver! Would you please just listen to me?" She cried, completely unheard.

He leaned in to kiss her. At their separation, she opened her eyes and he was no longer there. "Oliver? Oliver!"

"Do you _mind_?" She suddenly found herself at the beach. She turned towards the voice and saw Katie. Once again, things were off for Katie's her was still bright and bouncy, rather than the straight dark brown she had seen earlier.

"What's going on--wait, you can hear me?"

She rolled her chestnut eyes, "Unfortunately. Just hush up and follow the wedding, would you?"

That's when Lilly took notice of her surrounding--the white benches with yellow roses at each end, the people (some she knew, others too out of focus to recognize), etc. She looked up at the end of the path which she was apparently standing in the middle of, though nobody seemed to mind as they smiled robotically. The groom was undisputably Oliver--she took a quick moment to take in how well fitted he looked in his suit-- and, from what she could tell, the bride was about her height with dirty blonde hair poking out of her veil and--the bride turned around--it was her! The bride was Lilly. She was the bride. Except it obviously wasn't _her_ because she was standing right there looking at.. herself.

Lilly didn't comprehend how she could possibly be in two places at the same time, and immediately took it as Oliver was marrying her evil twin. "No! Don't do it Oliver! It's _me_ you wanted to marry, see I'm wearing the--" she felt her empty finger. Anxious, she patted her jean pockets, "Oh no! I'm sorry Oliver, I shouldn't have taken it off but I promise it _is_ me you wanted!" No one seemed to hear her anymore, even Katie had rejoined the crowd in robotically smiling at Oliver and the fake-Lilly getting married.

She scanned the crowd and found her mom, Miley, and Jada sitting together. "Guys, tell him that's not me! _Please!_" All without success.

She looked back up at the duo. Oliver leaned towards fake-Lilly's ear and stage whispered, "I love you."

The so-called evil twin smiled back, "I love you too, Ollie."

"No you don't!" Lilly cried unheard, "You love _me_! And _I_ love you back!" Tears rolled down her eyes as the scene slowly faded, "_I_ love you Oliver! _Oliver!_" she repeated tearfully until her eyes snapped open.

She took a few seconds to get her breathing back together and to stop shaking. She didn't try to remember what that was all about even though it was still clear her mind. No, it hadn't really happened and there's no such thing as a fake Lilly so there's no reason to worry about it.

Looking around she could tell it was no time to be up. She leaned over to her nightstand and took the engagement ring she had hidden in one of the cupboards. She slid it on her finger and sighed remaining on her bed hoping that sleep would claim her again but that her nightmare would be forever gone.

----

**Well that was dramatic and different ahah. And yes, Katie is a recurring character from 10 Reasons. If you've read it then you would understand their feud. If you haven't, then I hope I recreated it well enough. . Review, please & thank you? xoxCamy**


	5. Independent Lovers

**I wonder when I'll run out of these cheesy titles XD Enjoy.**

* * *

"So has Lilly responded to you yet?" Jada asked Miley as she got out her latest subsription magazine and flopped onto her bed.

Miley stared at the ends of her hair as she sat on Lilly's unoccupied bed, "Do the two words '_im alive_' count as a response?"

Flipping an advertisement page, Jada shrugged, "Well that's what you asked for, isn't it?"

Miley sighed it off. But after going cross-eyed looking for split ends, she frowned, "If _you_ got engaged, you'd tell me right?"

Jada grinned, "Are you kiddin'? I gotta find me a man first, though. According to this quiz, I need the 'manly-man', one to take charge. They can say that again."

Miley continued, ignoring Jada's rant. "See, if you'd tell me, why wouldn't my own best friends?"

This time Jada pryed her eyes off the magazine pages in mock laughter, "They are _not _engaged. Lilly's just tweaking out. She probably finally realized she's been hypnotized into dating Oliver for so long. I'd freak too."

"What, like you didn't see the ring on her finger? You actually believe that's her 'grandmother's'?" Miley raised her eyebrow.

Jada tilted her head, "I guess not; but really? Lilly and Oliver... engaged? Doesn't seem like their thing. The only time Oliver could get the guts to get on one knee would be to tie his converse."

Miley rolled her eyes and stood up, walking towards the door with determination.

"Where ya headed?" Jada asked carelessly.

"Well, if Lilly won't tell me about their secret engagement, maybe I can pry it out of Oliver."

Jada went after her, "So you mean like torture? Oh, I'm so in!"

Miley practically stomped down the hall with Jada flailing behind, and then rasped against Oliver's dorm. Barely waiting 5s, she knocked again and when the door opened she almost punched the opener in the face.

"Do you mind?" Eric asked. Eric at first sight, appeared as a tall, fun-loving, nonchalant, dirty blond, cutie. Deep down he was a tall, fun-loving, nonchalant, dirty blond, cutie--not meant to date Miley for more than three weeks. If opposites attract, then it only makes sense that likes would repel.

"Move aside Smith," Miley spat.

Eric leaned against the frame conversationally, "Actually it's Jacobs now."

Miley's shoulders drooped and her eyebrows met worriedly, "You're married too?"

Eric's scrunched up face basically yelled "_What?" _and after glancing at Jada who just shook her head, he stared back at Miley confused. "No--how would that affect _my_ last name at all? What are you--no. No, I just took my mom's maiden name since my dad left us. I was tired of dragging around the name of a traitor, you know? I'm the new man of the family now, I guess," he shrugged with a sly smile.

Miley returned his smile, slowly being smitten by him yet again. "Aw, that's so sweet."

Jada rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers in front of Miley's face, "Miley! Oliver?"

Miley widened her eyes only to narrow them again to glare at Eric. "I hate when you do that. Where's Oliver?"

"He's--" She shoved him to the side, and basically spun in the middle of the room in search, "--not here."

"Well, where is he? Don't tell me he's disappeared too!" Miley yelled. Jada burst out laughing only to receive a glare from her.

"Um, he did say something about going after Lilly so.. I'm guessing he's gone after Lilly," he shrugged.

"Really?" Jada asked sarcastically, "Did you figure that one out by yourself big boy?" Eric just smiled at her.

"Woah, hold up here people. We know where Lilly is now?" Miley interrupted.

"Not that I know of," Jada and Eric said simultaneously, then turned to each other emitting a small chuckle.

Miley turned to them with a disgusted look, "Okay, _ew_, never do that again." Then grabbing Jada's arm and dragging her towards the door she added, "We're outta here, _Jacobs_. Since my own best friends don't trust me to tell me _anything_ anymore. Let them freak out on their own."

Jada freed her arm as soon as they were out of the room. "Aw, so they're on a romantic chase. How dramatic," she said sarcastically.

"And annoying. Just like them to do this type of thing. You know when they started dating they didn't let me know for over a week. Neither did they when they broke up. Nor when they started dating again. Do I just scream third wheel or what?"

Jada ressettled in her bed with her magazine. "More like whiney wheel," she grinned. "Don't worry about them, they're grown adults... Or at least Lilly is. They'll figure it out."

Miley dropped perpendicularly on Lilly's bed and sighed, "Those ditchers better."

--

After refusing all of her mom's offers to hang out for the Saturday, Lilly found herself aimlessly cruising down the blocks of her neighborhood. Maybe she was just a bit out of it, but everything from the air to the scenery to the calming sound of skateboard wheels against the pavement brought Lilly back to her childhood. She smiled and closed her eyes as she submerged herself into the reminiscence. She sent herself back to what she would be doing right now on a Saturday back in the early, drama-less days of her life. The name Oliver came to her mind before she could even think about preventing it. She didn't mind though, because in this circumstance the name brought a smile to her face. She thought about their daily arguments concerning what they'd do for the rest of the day. They were useless arguments considering their choices were only between skating, surfing, or eating (or shopping when Miley was part of the argument). Yet she couldn't deny the sweet joy she always got when arguing with Oliver back then--mostly because she usually won the arguments.

Apparently thinking about Oliver lead her to him or she had actually transformed herself into the child--and teen--that would automatically go from her house to his everyday. Either way she opened her eyes to find her self standing right beside.. his car--which she last saw parked in Santa Barbara. Not sure what else to do she got off her board tiptoed to it and poked it to make sure it wasn't one of those mirages, even if she wasn't in a desert. The contact with her finger made her sigh but she wasn't sure whether it was with relief or fear. She soon found out which when she looked up at the house and the realization that now only a few walls separated her from Oliver rather than hundreds of miles hit her. Hard.

"Shizz," she whispered into the humid air as she unconsciously made her way to the door. Only to suddenly stop and turn around, "What the heck am I doing?" She quickly turned to glance at the door again. It practically called her--either that or she had officially lost her brains for good. "Oh, _come on_." She gave up and just rang the doorbell.

After ringing a couple more times with no answer she considered that maybe his car had _somehow_ gotten here without Oliver necessarily being here too. She thought of all the ways that was even slightly possible only to realize the stupidity in it all. She made her way to the backyard and looked up to his bedroom window. "Ollie?" she yelled, waiting a few seconds. "Dude Oliver!"

She groaned as she looked around the familiar backyard. Her eyes landed on an old Frisbee. She couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Are you seriously gonna make me do this, Oken?" Obviously no one responded, so she took that as a yes and chucked the plastic at his window. Somehow she completely missed the large glass the first time, but then managed to hit it the next few. Either way, no one responded. She figured his parents wouldn't be home at this time of day even on a Saturday, but her hopes had gotten so high that she'd be able to see him that she had forgotten to consider that, just like her, he could of used another mode of transportation to leave the house. This made her collapse on the grass in exasperation. She wanted to find it unbelievable how much she missed Oliver after just a day and half, but then again, when you've been inseparable from someone for your entire life, just a few hours can seem like forever. Especially when you're deeply in love with that someone--but that was another matter, kind of.

She picked up a small flower beside her. "I'm sorry, Ollie-pop," she spoke to it. She figured if she had lost her mind, she might as well go with it.

She stared at the ring she had put back on the moment she was out of her mom's sight. "I guess.. I can forgive you eventually."

She immediately sat up and stared at the ring wide-eyed, "I _know_ it did not just speak to me. I'm not that crazy you know!" She yelled in no particular direction.

"Are you sure?" She could practically _hear_ him grinning.

She twisted her neck upwards and connected her eyes with an old treehouse built between branches of the mighty tree that had been creating the shade she lay in. At the same time, her eyes met with the dark ones of her childhood best friend, adolescence boyfriend, and current fiancé. _What a trip_, she couldn't help but smile. "You son of an Oken, you were up there all along and it didn't even occur to you that you should, oh I don't know, say something?" She kept the smile on her face the entire time as he came down.

"And lose the entertainment of hearing you talk to yourself?" Oliver jumped off, and Lilly noticed that he landed in a skating stance, only widening her smile.

She got up and shook the grass out of the hair--only using the grass thing as an excuse, "You're horrible, you know."

He momentarily leaned against the tree trunk with his head tilted so his bangs cut across his face diagonally; and she knew he had no excuse. "Don't speak of yourself that way. No good for your confidence," he winked.

She crossed her arms as she walked towards him, "I'm confident I'm gonna get you back some day."

"Then again there is also such thing as over-confidence." He was also stepping forward so that by now, they were leaning their foreheads against each other and letting their bodies naturally tangle.

She slid her head to its fitting place in the crook of his neck. "I missed you," she mumbled.

He lifted her head by her chin and stared right through her eyes. It was insane how at the very same time he was both frustrated with her and dazzled by her. "You're telling me," he whispered before connecting their lips together for as long as humanly possible.

--

Lilly sat down on the dry wood of the treehouse across from Oliver so that their toes would touch if they pointed them. "Wow, I haven't been here in forever! When _was_ the last time? Like..." she tried to think back.

"Second grade. Halloween." Lilly gave him her full attention for they had been up there for at least five minutes now and he had yet to say a word. She wasn't sure whether he was just mildly frustrated with her or fully angry, and the fact that before this silent session the last thing he did was kiss her lips off let her know that it was another one of those mixed emotions moments--something they'd delt with more times than she could count. "We came up here to count our candy. When we got sick for the rest of the week, you said something about this place being cursed."

"I did not say it was _cursed_."

He barely glanced at her from under his darker bangs; "Do you actually remember what you said?"

Lilly stuck her lower lip out in hopes of softening him up, "...No."

"Well then. I don't know, but point is you never came back up here," he shrugged, "I didn't really mind considering it was the only place I could place off-limits from you."

She lightly kicked his foot, "_Hey_!"

He silently flipped his gray hood on and drew his legs to his chest. Lilly sighed and crawled next to him facing him and propping her elbow on his knees. "So you're mad at me," she stared at him with her head tilted, letting her hair graze his legs. He momentarily glanced up at her but didn't hold her gaze for very long. Her shoulders drooped, "It's not like I blame you. I _am_ really sorry for just leaving you like that but I seriously needed some thinking time or else who knows what I would have done. You know me, I can make some drastic decisions if I don't think first." After another unreturned smile, she crossed her arms, "Okay, I know you're pissed but what's the point of driving all the way over here if you're not even going to talk to me?"

He looked up at her so slowly, it actually managed to momentarily freeze her. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell me."

She bit her lip to shake off the chills he was giving her. As much as she hated the silent treatment, his cold mood only completed his dark hair, eyes, and outfit for a jaw-dropping and heartmelting look. "I had an epiphany!" She blurted. He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I did," she took his hand and gently poked at it, "See, I realized that if there's anything I know for certain, it's that I could never picture you marrying anyone else. I'd die, no joke about it."

He started laughing and wiped his face--along with the laugh--with his free hand. "Interesting. You know, I always thought it was usually said the other way around, but okay."

"Well I dreamt it backwards so that's how we'll have it. And I'm serious Ollie-pop. Even if she looks, acts, and sounds exactly like me, I'll die."

He narrowed his eyes, "And you had to come all the way to Malibu to figure this out because...?"

She thought back to the late night and her nonstop and teary drive. She shrugged, "I don't.. know really. Again, I'm sorry though, it wasn't actually my goal to make you mad you know."

He took her arms and pulled her into him, "I'm not mad because you needed to think and whatnot. I got that half, that's why I didn't call you; I was worried, but even I know when to let you be. I just don't see why you had to _leave_. If we didn't have a year of college left, I'd contemplate your being gone forever."

"Now, that's just crazy talk! Nah, it's just a scenery change thing, I guess. Being up here, I feel like a kid again. You feel like my best friend again. It was as if the only connection we had in SB was just the fact that we were dating. Sometimes I'd forget our unforgetable history, as contradictory as that sounds. So it only makes sense that I'd come here to get my thought train back on track," she smiled and then let it drop a bit as she knew that there was more to the truth. "I was kinda freaking out about this whole engagement thing to tell you the honest truth," she added quickly.

"Lils! I'm freaked out too, but I know it'll be okay as long as you're there freaking out with me," he smiled and leaned his head back with his eyes closed.

Lilly mouth dropped wide open in a girgantuous grin, and she bit her lip as she sat up to stare at him.

When he noticed her shifting, he looked at her from his leaned position, "What?"

"Did you even hear what you just said?" She smiled at him.

"Um..."

"Somehow, that has got to be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." They kissed and after holding back for the last half hour, she let her fingers mix with the darkened locks of her fiancé without feeling one hit of suffocation.

* * *

**I'm not too ecstatic about this chapter. Considering I wrote most of it around 2am might explain it but still... I actuallly really thought about ending the story here, but that'd be kinda mean huh. I doubt Eric's gonna become a **_**major**_** character.. unless you want him to. Either way, I was just letting you know of his existence again. Review - lift my spirits. xoxCamy**


	6. Undecided Lovers

**I've been attacked by a bit of writer's block mixed with lack of ambition for this story. But there's no cure like a week's vacation at the beach! Enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

Lilly unwillingly separated from Oliver. "Mmm," she slightly opened her eyes only to close them again when he placed another soft kiss on her lips. She smiled, "What time is it?"

"What time do you think it is?" He pecked a quick kiss on her the tip of her nose.

Lilly closed her eyes and slid herself down to rest on his chest, "_Oliver_."

"Hun, I'm not a watch. It's time you get one."

"Oh, but _hun_, you're wearing one," she said rolling her eyes.

He sighed on her forehead, making her bangs tremble, "Yeah, but I'm too lazy to move my hand."

"Right, or you just don't want to." She forcefully pulled his hand out of her front jeans pocket and twisted it about--partially to read the time correctly and partially waiting for him to yelp in pain. Once she accomplished both, she let it drop. "Wow, it's ten till 6. Funny, I got out of the house at ten till 11 _a.m_. How on earth did that happen?"

"Magic? I don't know, Lils. You worry too much," he said wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm not _worried_. I'm just wondering how that happened."

"Okay then you wonder too much."

"Oh shut up, you wonder things too. What's something you wonder right now. Right this second."

"I wonder if... you'll let this go, " he smiled.

"No. Try again."

"Fine. Um, I guess I wonder if you'll get tired of me. And I don't just mean like 'shut up for a minute' tired, but just tired of hearing me, seeing me, being around me, being _with_ me."

Lilly pushed herself back upwards so that she would be able to lean her head back on his shoulder if she wanted. She frowned, "Well that's deeper than expected."

He shrugged, "You asked. It's not because I don't always express my wonders that I don't think them, you know."

"..Right. And no, I could never genuily get _tired_ tired of you. I mean..." she tilted her head in thought. "Yeah. No, I don't think I could."

Oliver shrugged again, this time his grip around Lilly loosening and she had to readjust herself yet again. "I'm just saying. Like how you went off for two days, and now you feel better. Maybe the problem was that we've just seen too much of each other for too long."

Lilly feigned interest only to see where he was going. "So what do you suggest?"

"I don't know." Short silence. "A break?"

This time Lilly snapped out of his hold and would have stood up if it weren't for the height restrictions of the treehouse. "A bre--a bre--? Are you--Oliver, are you breaking up with me?"

Oliver burst out laughing at how quickly she could go from calm to frantic, but ceased to laugh once he realized she was serious. "_No_. No, I meant like a vacation or something of the sort. Not a 'let's see other people' kinda crap. Heck no. You know, just miss each other again, so when we're together we could almost like get to know each other all over again. We've been acting like an old married couple years before we were even dating. That can't possibly be good news for the future, can it?"

Lilly stared at him, her face twisted with confusion yet her eyes bright with admiration. "I hate it when you sound like that."

"Like what?"

"All intelligent and whatnot."

"Um, gee, thanks?"

"You know what I mean." She slid next to him. "Ollie, you've grown so much. I mean you're still my same dork, but almost like a better version. You know, Smokin' Oken 2.0."

He chuckled, "Smokin' Oken 2.0? I could get used that."

She smiled faintly. "Yeah, and then I'm..."

"Woah there Lilly-pop. I'm not asking you to change! Seriously, I'm not. Look, I was just wondering out loud like you told me to."

"Right," she looked up but didn't meet his eyes, "Um, well I better go. I didn't tell my mom where I was heading and I forgot my cell at home."

As she climbed out, Oliver knew that she could have just used his cell if necessary. And Lilly knew the same. But neither of them mentioned it, and they both knew why.

--

After a while, Lilly decided to walk home because she needed the quiet to let her thoughts reel rather than the constant rasp of her skateboard wheels. How was it that through all that, she still doubted her being with Oliver. Did she really need another nightmare to shake her senses into the right places?

Although it took her until she reached her driveway, Lilly finally realized that she wasn't doubting anything. In fact, if anyone was doubting it was her loving other half and somehow he had managed to put the weigh of his world on her shoulders. She momentarily glared at the ring and then took it off as she made her way inside to greet her mom. "You're never gonna guess who else is in town!"

"Well, if I'm never going to guess I don't see why I should--"

"Oliver!" Lilly cut her mother off impatiently.

Heather Truscott put down the book she was reading to grin at her daughter, practically emulating the love she knew Lilly and Oliver felt for each other in that one smile. "Oh, Lilly that's so great!"

Lilly adored her mom's joy. It was like she could feed on it--sometimes for her own evil doings, and other times to nourish her low spirits. "It is, it is. _So_, I was thinking we should have a dinner party.. gathering.. type thing tonight! You know, us, the Okens, even Mr. Stewart should join!"

Heather's eyes shined the same fashion Lilly's did with extreme emotion, "Oh wow, that would be fantastic! Though Mary and I, and even Robby Ray, are all close friends, it's been harder keeping in contact with you kids gone. It's a shame Miley's not here too."

"Yeah, yeah it is. But let's not cry a river just yet. You go whip up some of your amazing lasagna, I'll make the phone calls, and we'll be good to go, alright?" Heather gave her the thumbs up, and Lilly speedily headed to her room. She quickly thought about what she was going to wear. The whole dinner party idea probably crossed out casual, yet as she sifted through her old clothes--reconnecting with her heavy skater style--she came upon a black tanktop from some event with TRUSCOTT printed on the back across the shoulders in white letters. In the most cliché way possible, an idea bulb turned on in her head. She grinned to herself; she was going to need cloth paint, preferably white, and quite a bit of guts.

--

The bell rang as Lilly finished putting on her favorite cherry necklace. "I'll get it," she shouted to her mom next door. She shook her her hair and flipped it back making sure it completely covered the black tanktop she wore under a turquoise plaid sundress. She hadn't spoken to Oliver since she left and Mary hadn't told her at what time they planned to arrive, so she was unsure whether it was already him or not. With a ready smile she calmly walked down the stairs and opened the door.

Before she could even react, Mary Oken threw her arms around her. "Lillian! My goodness you've grown so much and so beautifully!"

"Hasn't she?" Her mom added from behind.

Eventually the Okens made their way in, only leaving one to saunter behind. Lilly stood there patiently until he gradually let his eyes make their way to hers. "Why am I suddenly feeling underdressed?" He said as he swiftly pecked her lips, almost robotically.

"Come on in, you look fine." And she meant it. Although he had meant to go casual, the black on black added a distinct sophistication to his look. She couldn't help but have a quick mental cheer for his latest addiction to dark clothes. Seeing his Dark Knight t-shirt made her want to run upstairs and get her own matching one for the tacky sake of it. She made her way in with him, only to have to go back halfway to let Mr. Stewart in.

After another round of joyful hellos, the trio of families finally settled around the table of foods the Truscotts had spent most of the day preparing.

"Sweet nibblets, I knew I had slepped passed Thanksgiving! But ain't nothing like a plate of your amazing lasagna, Heather, to fill me up. Or three." Robbie Ray exclaimed as he took his third serving.

Oliver, who naturally sat besides Lilly, also exclaimed, "Yeah, I've missed eating great meals like this."

Mr. Oken laughed, "I told you the college life wouldn't fulfill a growing man's stomach, especially yours. I do see that you've made good use of their gyms, though." Mr. Oken teasingly punched his son's arm. Working out here and then didn't mean he enjoyed being punched though, and the old Oliver resurfaced as he winced.

"I bet _you _don't mind," Heather winked referring to her daughter.

Lilly showed no reaction as she was lost in her own plan of thoughts. She only woke back up after a nudge from her mother. "I, um, we.." at this point Lilly realized that through all her planning and thinking she had forgotten to plan exactly how she was going to say it. She figured the first step was to stand up, so she shakily did, "I have a, um, I have an announcement."

After a couple of _okay_'s and _do tell_, Lilly gather enough courage and portrayede it with a wide grin. "These two families," she glanced at her mother and Mary, "will soon be one."

Oliver had picked an unfortunate moment to take a sip of his soda and at her words his hand flew to his mouth to prevent him from spraying the entire table. He looked around hoping no one had caught that statement. Their stunned faces let his assumption down so he resorted to staring wide-eyed at his announced fiancé.

Lilly, expecting that reaction from him didn't bother look at him and contently smiled at herself.

"I'm not the only confused one, right?" Mr. Stewart spoke up.

"No..." Heather slowly shook her head, "Honey, what are you--"

"See?" Lilly simply turned around and held her hair up.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the white letters previously not visible. The originally printed letters read TRUSCOTT and then a dash followed with OKEN obviously added by hand.

Oliver nearly hurt himself standing up so quickly. Before anyone at the table could even begin to express themselves, he grabbed her hand, "Can we be excused? Just for a sec." Without waiting for an answer he dragged her to the nearest room, "What on earth was that?"

"Announcing our engament as creatively as possible. _Like?_" She grinned. "By the way, why are we in the bathroom?"

"_Because_. Now, why didn't you tell me that you were doing this _tonight_?"

"Why not? It is out last night here."

"Okay but... don't you want to wait until you're sure and.. ready?" Oliver asked uneasily.

Lilly smiled mischieviously (gosh he was rubbing off on her), this was exactly what she waited for. "Me? Oh I'm sure and _so_ ready. In fact, if we could find a priest right this second to marry is, I would." She imprinted her eyes in his, "Unless.. you wouldn't." He fearfully stared at her for a few seconds and then sighed--something else she saw coming, "Why would you try to make me feel guilty again? I would have understood, you know!"

After an intense moment of a heartfelt stare, she felt like she had suddenly acquired some sort of throat disease with the way it swelled up.

"Lils..." Sometimes she hated the way he said that, as if there suddenly were a poetic meaning to the shortening of her name.

"D-don't," she managed to choke out.

"Really Lils, I want to. I--"

She pulled herself to connect their lips. It wasn't really a kiss rather her last resort to halt his words. She didn't want to hear about his confusion; she didn't want to think anymore. She just wanted a yes or no, no more maybes. Nonetheless, Lilly knew that if she and Oliver couldn't agree on the simplest thigns, they'd have quite the struggle with this lifetime decision.

She made a last subtle eye contact with him and then wordlessly stepped out. She simply couldn't settle for a maybe on this one; some areas of life she didn't plan to follow in the footsteps of her mom--her single, divorced mom.

She quickly wiped under her eyes for any runaway tears, and as calmly and contained as she could get, she made her way back to the table. It appeared that normal conversation had resurfaced, yet as soon as she returned they grew silent and when Oliver also regained his seat, the dampened mood was painful.

"Okay, well that was..." Mr. Oken started.

"Awkward?" Robby Ray suggested. Most of the table nodded in agreement.

"Is everything okay?" Mary asked, fully used to arguments between the two.

"Just dandy," Lilly answered, sticking her left thumb up, and not managing to mask her sarcasm. Oliver didn't even bother look up as he poked at his food.

Heather smiled at her friend, "At least no they excuse themselves to go argue. No more food fights to clean up, Mary! How cute." The two laughed.

Lilly rolled her eyes at the overly used term. A puppy was cute; a baby was cute; how on earth were two fighting people _cute_?!? She cleared her throat, "Pass me the bread, please?"

Even with his head down, Oliver could feel her voice directed at him. Without thought he lifted the bread basket beside him. Halfway about to hand it to Lilly, he seemed to wake up and put it down. "What Lilly's trying to say is," he finally looked up, "We're engaged."

Everyone but Lilly now watched him with intrigue. "_No_, what I'm trying to say is pass me the bread please," she stated completely unfazed by the renewed tension at the table.

"What do you mean dear?" Heather asked Oliver, dimissing Lilly's interruption.

Oliver sat up proudly, "I asked her to marry me."

Lilly slammed her hand against the table, "I asked _you_ to please pass the bread."

Oliver also snapped and turned to her. "Really, in all seriousness right now?"

"_Excuse _me if I enjoy bread with my lasagna! I know it's like a carb overload but honestly I don't give--"

"_LILLY_!" Oliver hissed in her face.

"What?" She lowered her voice to a whimper, "You don't have to do this for me."

Oliver leaned in closer to keep their discussion as personal as possible even though the rest of the table had already assumed their role as mere audience. No mater how grown up, Lilly and Oliver never failed to entertain--though Heather eyed the bread hoping it would stay in the basket and not become a projectile. "Lils, I'm not doing this for you. Well, technically I am because it is _you_ I wanna marry but you get my point."

"But just a few minutes ago you--"

He took hold of her flailing hands, "Hey, hey, hey! I'm allowed my 5 minutes of temporary insanity, right? You got two days, give me a break. So for the love of everything we've been throught, will you let me marry you?"

Lilly couldn't help but laugh. "Let's do this," she turned to finally face the anticipating crowd of 4. "Well, you guys heard him." She fetched the ring out of the convenient dress pocket and proudly slid it on. "Tadah!"

Heather was the first to speak up, "Oh. My. Gosh."

Oliver leaned to Lilly's ear, "Was that a 'oh my gosh I'm so happy for you' or a 'oh my gosh what were you thinking'?"

"My babies! You're getting married!! Who would have thought? I mean, I always knew you would _date _one day, but this, this is--" Heather looked at Mary and they both shrieked with joy.

"Does that answer your question?" Lilly quickly whispered back, before her mom whisked her into a hug.

"Even over marriage you two lovebirds will argue, huh?" Heather grinned.

"Yeah.. that's not bad, is it?"

Heather tightly gripped her daughter's shoulders but watched Oliver as she spoke, "Honey, I'd be more surprised if you hadn't." She looked back at Lilly, and they both giggled.

As the parents excitedly congratulated each other, Oliver snuck his hand around her hips and playfully leaned towards her; "So, are you really going to hypernate our names?"

She smiled at his grinning face, "Probably not, this was an in-the-moment craft with not much thought behind it considering I was slightly frustrated with you at the time. No, I love you and want to be fully yours." And as they quietly stared at each other, she knew she meant every word.

**

* * *

****I've had this ready for an update for a few days, but I was trying to smooth the end out. I'm not sure I succeeded too well.. Anyhow, this turned out quite long because I wrote half of it pre-vacation and then forgot about it as I wrote more during my vacation so I had to cut off quite a bit of what I wrote later. Myeah.. I tend to do things like that XD But you have no right to forget to review ;P lol xoxCamy**


	7. Strong and Supportive Lovers

**I don't know what happened to all my readers/reviewers. They've evaporated, oh no! lol Oh well, I'll still keep writing (: I've had the most emotional week of my life, so, uh, yeah let's consider that my excuse for the wait, because other than that I've got nothing. XD**

* * *

"Have you guys figured out how you're going to go back to UCSB?" Lilly's mom asked the couple in the latter hours of the extended dinner.

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked as her hand fidgeted around with Oliver's underneath the table.

"You guys came up here separately right?" Both Lilly's and Oliver's faces showed that they hadn't thought of this problem. Heather took note of this and went on, "What you could do is drive back in one car and then next time you come up--hopefully sooner than another century--you can take a train and then return in the other car."

Lilly twisted her face, "That sounds like a hassle."

"Or you could just each drive home in your own cars," Mary suggested already anticipating their answers.

The duo glanced at each other, already dreading a two-hour long drive without each other. "Pick us up at the train station in a month," Lilly finalized.

"Or a week..." Oliver added with concerned in his voice.

"We're going home with your car," Lilly said in a monotone voice.

"Okay then I don't care when we come back," Oliver joked. Lilly laughed at her car-obsessed soon-to-be partner for life.

--

"Lilly sometimes you truly make no sense," Oliver shook his head as they walked to his car. The two had decided to spend their last few hours at Malibu watching a movie at the Oken's, and now were on their way back home.

"It's not my fault you fell asleep. What, did you want me to wake you up?" Lilly leaned against the passenger door as they spoke.

"Uh, yeah! Why on earth would we leave at midnight when we've been sitting here all day doing nothing. You have such an odd thing for nightly outings," he smiled, reminiscing all the times in their friendship she would barge into his house without care for what time it was. He unlocked his car which he had ensured to keep as shiny as when he first got it the summer before their senior year.

"And you are such a whiner. Look, if you're too tired, let me drive. But there is absolutely no problem with leaving now because that means we'll arrive in the wee hours of Monday morning and won't have to deal with our roomies and friends for a few more hours into the day. I know Miley will pounce on me, and I'm still not sure what to tell her. Or at least _how_, to be specific."

Oliver shrugged, "I'm sure you'll figure out on the way. I don't care, I can travel with my eyes closed--not that I plan to--and I'm not really tired. If you keep talking, I'll be alert."

As they made their way through the town to the highway, Lilly chuckled, "Funny. I'm suddenly running out of things to talk about."

"Lilly! We haven't even started the main part of this trip--"

"Oh, I'm just kidding. Don't get your pants all up in a riot," Lilly grinned. "So that was an interesting idea sending Katie to the rescue."

Oliver shrugged, "I guess. It was funny that she called right at that time. How did that go by the way? Please tell me she's still alive."

"Hey! I'm not _that _brutal! Well I'm not gonna lie, it didn't start off too smoothly but actually we had a fairly.. informing conversation."

"Informing? About what?" Oliver glanced at her with an uneasy look on his face.

"Oh, _stuff_. And now that I think about it, she invited me to a beach party... yesterday. Woops."

"Way to go. So I guess you wouln't mind if I called her to thank her," said offhandedly. Lilly didn't even say anything as she eyed with him with her eyebrows raised. "What about to invite her to our wedding."

_Wedding, wedding, Oliver and I are getting __**married**__! Wedding, wedding, I'm going to be his wi-ife!! _Lilly quietly sang in her head before snapping back to the conversation, biting her lips to keep herself from madly giggling away. "Isn't that what invitations are for? And either way we don't even know when that's going to be."

"Well, I figured we'd wait till after we graduate," he glanced at her to meet her excited eyes and she smiled as she returned to her little wedding song in her head.

"That makes sense." She sighed contently, "It's going to be a brutally long year though." But she knew she enthusiastically looked forward to it.

--

With Oliver clinging to her waist and not yet willing to return to his own room, Lilly unlocked her dorm as quietly as possible trying not to giggle when Oliver would trigger a tricklish nerve. And although she should have, she didn't expect to be caught by "the caramel-haired demon" as Oliver liked to reffer to her.

"Well, well. Look who decided to roll in. You two are in so much trouble, you better explain yourselves!" Jada eyed Lilly yet her face only showed amusement au lieu of anger.

"Hey... fancy seeing you again," Lilly said uneasily. "Um, I planned on explaining all this to you guys, I just--"

"Do you never go to sleep?" Oliver interrupted with an annoyed comment.

Jada dramatically rolled her eyes towards him, "You try drinking three cups of coffee and a bottle of Coke and still go to sleep."

"Oh gee, um, _maybe_ that's why I don't do that," he said mockingly.

"You know what--"

Lilly groaned, "Okay, okay. I'm glad you guys missed each other too. Can we just all go to sleep--whenever we can go to sleep--and continue this fascinating conversation tomorrow? I'm exhausted."

"I'm afraid you're not getting away with it that easily." Jada picked up one of her mini pillows and chucked it at Miley, "Stewart, wake up!"

"No, no, no! Shh, why would you do that?" Lilly tried to stop her knowing that if Miley woke up they'd all be up all night with explanations. "I actually anticipate going to bed _before_ the time I need to wake up."

Jada ignored her and continued shaking Miley awake. As Miley slowly stirred out of her dreams, Oliver saw it as his time to start backing out of the room. "You know what, I think I'm just going to go. Tell me how this goes tomorrow! Love you, peace!" He patted Lilly on her shoulders and reached for the knob.

Lilly pulled him back forcefully. "If I'm going through this so are you," she hissed while pointing in his face.

"One word," Miley, sleepy yet fully aware of the company, sat up, "Explain." Everyone turned towards her as she shoved her dark curls out of her face to better glare at her friends.

Lilly sighed heavily and glanced at Oliver whose blank face showed she'd be doing most of the talking. Nonetheless he took hold of her hand and Lilly knew that like every other thing in their life from now on--mediocre or monumental--that's how they would get through it; together, strong, and supportive.

Well, with the strength mostly coming from Lilly and loving support from Oliver--some habits tend to make it through a lifetime.

--

--

--

--

Lilly exhaled deeply as she routinely looked around the empty room making sure everything was back in place, and then securely locked it. In the process, her purse--heavied by necessities and things she was just too lazy to throw out--decided her shoulders were no longer equipped to carry it and repeatedly slid off until she frustratedly just slammed it against the checkered floor. Folders of important loose leafs she had forgotten she'd hurriedly stuffed inside exploded out of the out-of-shape purse. Lilly groaned at the foreseen event and leaned her pounding head against the pastel yellow door.

She'd had a long day, that was all. Even though today's instructions were identical to the ones she'd given out for the past week and thus barely spoken, and she'd unlocked and then locked the yellow entrance at basically the exact same times, something inside herself made this day much longer. Much, _much_ longer and she really dispised it.

She exhaled once more and pulled herself to lift her head up and then glare at the contents of her purse spit out around the supposed container. Well, it wasn't doing its job of _containing_, she thought. She rolled her eyes at her attempt at a pun--yeah, something was definitely wrong with her today.

"Do you need help with that, Mrs. Oken?"

Lilly shook out of her misery to glance through the burgandy glasses replacing her itchy contacts at one of her students. She almost asked him why he was still here so late until her brain processed the football uniform. The curly-haired boy's eyes started to transition from concerned to impatient, making her wonder exactly how long it had taken her to process this. She smiled and wiped her hands against her dark jeans as she silently gave thanks for casual Fridays. "That'd be nice Tristen." She continued speaking as he efficiently turned the messy spill into a contained one. "You've been doing a really good job with your lines lately. I'm proud of you for taking on this part, especially with all the other things you're involved in. You're a good guy Jones, and if you ever need a letter of recommendation don't hesitate."

The boy laughed a typical teenage boy laugh that brought memories and a smile to Lilly's face. He handed her her worn down yet eccentric lime green purse. "I'll be sure to do that. Well, I've gotta run, my friends are meeting me at the beach. See you Monday, Mizz Oaks."

Just in time her cellphone announced a call with its moving Hawaiin-themed ringtone that would always get at least one of her students to start the hula. She shoved aside her paperwork to pick up. "Hello?" She wondered why she had caller-id if she constantly forgot to at least glance at it.

"Hey! Are you still coming over?"

Luckily Lilly didn't have to think too hard to recognize the voice. She didn't know many people in California with a slight Southern accent nor who were cheerful 24/7, making it an easy guess--and it did help that she knew her since junior high. "Oh, right. Uh, yeah, I guess I am."

"You forgot, didn't you," Miley accused quickly discerning her best friend's tone.

"Pfft, _no_. I only momentarily stopped remembering."

"Wow, Lils, that's in the range of something Oliver would say."

"Well, when you're around someone for as long as I've been you tend to pick up a thing or two. Either way, I'll be over asap, k?"

"Alright see ya."

"Bye--Oh, wait Miles?!" Lilly waited for Miley's reply hoping she hadn't hung up yet. When she was assured she hadn't she continued, "Do you have food?"

Miley giggled at the emergency, "Yeah, I'm cooking dinner right now."

"Great, I'm starving enough to eat a whale. Later."

Hoping this visit would refresh her day, she hastily made her way to her car. As she set her things aside, mostly chucking them, she fetched her phone back in hopes of making another phone call that would add even more jolt in her "long day". After a while of repetitive ringing she only received instructions from herself followed by a loud beep. She rolled her eyes and hung up knowing if Oliver was too lazy to pick up the phone he wouldn't bother check the voicemail any time before she got home. Her home; his home; their home. She chuckled as she wondered how many years it would take until she would stop doing that. But she didn't mind for she loved the heartwarming feeling she got each time.

--

"Lilly!" The tall brunnette exclaimed in her face before she could blink and realize the door had opened. Next she felt Miley's squishing hug and kept her focus on her own balance. "Geez, I haven't seen you in a while. Y'all've been avoiding me like the plague."

"Aw, I'm sorry. I've just been so--good Lord it smells fantastic in here!" Along with the smells, Lilly took in the sights of her best friends cozy apartment. Even if it had been a while, the place felt extremely familiar because as soon as Miley had the chance to, this was the first place she'd moved into. She was quick to settle and make it her home sweet home and then not alter a thing. Even now that her boyfriend of two years had moved in with her, it didn't seem to have any affect on the home feeling of Miley's small apartment. The only recent addition was a framed and autographed--just in case he got famous she said--photo of the sunset by Oliver, he'd taken for her birthday last year. It was one of the few things in common their apartments had--except theirs had about 50 times more hanging or just laying every which way.

"Thank you, thank you. I felt like some homemade pizza."

"Where's Blake?" Lilly said practically dragging herself to the kitchen stool. She seemed to get hungrier and more exhausted with every step she took.

"He just went out to get some groceries."

"What? You mean the food's not ready yet??" Lilly melodramatically collapsed on the counter.

Miley laughed, "Calm down, it's ready! He's just getting brownie batter, I thought desert would be nice."

"Do I have to wait for desert?"

"Not really."

"...Do I have to wait for him?"

"Lils!"

"I'm _starving_!"

"Okay, fine, one slice. Geez don't have a child?"

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Pfft, no. I just feel like eating an elephant and then subsequently throwing it up." She folded her arms on the counter and then rested her head on them as she childishly awaited her food.

"Well, are you tired?" Miley asked, teasingly putting on a doctor's tone.

"Miley please. I'm freakin' exhausted and just wanna eat. No jokes, just food," Lilly mumbled back, slowly spacing out.

"Feel.. bloated?"

"The previously mentioned elephant would be no comparison. I probably need to start a diet but who wants to do that? Maybe we'll go surfing some time."

"_Lilly_..." Miley slid the plate to her and watched her attack it. "I'm not going to ask you about your personal bedroom activities," she winked, "but please tell me you see where I'm getting at."

Gradually slowing down her chewing, Lilly blankely stared at her. Though it take a while for her brain to catch up, it finally dawned on her, "You're kidding."

Miley smiled and dragged her up as Lilly shoved as much pizza as possible in her mouth; "Let's go!"

--

Lilly jammed the key into the doorknob and practically thew herself through the door. She immediately took in the disordered but spacious are of the apartment and routinely glanced towards the living room at her favorite, enlarged picture of the beach Oliver had taken. She loved that unlike most of his work, he hadn't digitally altered it in any way. It was a simply well taken picture of the beach they both loved.

"Lilly?" Oliver called from their room located on a balcony-like upstairs shared with another spare room and a bathroom.

"Your one and only," she replied as she took off her jacket. He suddenly appeared sliding down their metal staircase. "You can still do that?" She enjoyed making fun of his youthful mind trapped inside his aging body.

He took a sarcastic bow, "I wasn't sure but luckily I made it in what piece. I have some amazing news for you!"

He gently kiss her hello. She smiled and wondered if he'd noticed she was home three hours later than usual, "Really? Because I have some pretty... amazing news too. But you go first."

"I just finished all our thank you notes!" he smiled proudly.

Lilly raised her eyebrows, "The ones you planned to do for our wedding? Three years ago?"

"_Two and a half_ years. There were a lot of people! Either way, it's never too late to say thank you. I will send those cards and they will like it! I even made this crazy collage of us on there, I'll show it to you you'll love it."

Lilly giggled, "Fine, fine."

"So what's your news?" He took her hand and lead her upstairs as she spoke.

"Oh well, I was just going to tell you that I'm thinking we're going to need to clean this place up," Lilly said nonchalantly.

"Okay..." Oliver said not quite understanding how that was amazing news, if news at all.

"And you should mature up a bit." Oliver chuckled but she was quick to interrupt him, "No really! It's hard to teach your child to be mature if you're not."

"Oh I'm plenty matur--What child?" Oliver abruptly spun her direction as they stood in front of their bedroom door.

"You know... the ones I'm pregnant with," Lilly took in a deep breath awaiting his reaction.

Oliver froze for a second. "_How_? Never mind, don't answer that. But when did you--? And how did you--?" He stopped his rambling to collect his thoughts and looked her over. The Lilly he had grown up with--at a point in time he could have sworn she'd be too evil to carry another being inside of her. "We're having a kid!" he cried.

Lilly emitted a small smile. "Ki_ds_. As in plural," she said calmly.

Oliver eyed her. "Plural? As in how many?"

Lilly held up her index and middle finger. "Twins!" she couldn't help but laugh and show her excitement.

He inhaled sharply. "Tw--Twins... You're... Oh my... Holy--" _Thud_.

Lilly's hands flew to her mouth as she concernly stared at her husband laying on the floor. She couldn't say she hadn't seen this coming, as supporting as Oliver was, staying strong in moments of intense climax just wasn't his thing. Yet she still loved him for it. And he still loved her for many things.

After just two and half years of marriage, many wouldn't see their love as much of a big deal yet; but after nearly 25 years of knowing each other, only they understood everything it meant.

--

--

--

The 10-year-old's dark strawberry blonde thick and loose waves flew as she bent over in laughter. Her brother sitting next to her merely emitted a small smirk as he shook the bangs of his shorter cut but matching hair. Their mom sat in front of them on a stool she'd pulled from the counter and joyfully watched as they each enjoyed her tale in their own way. "I can't believe he _fainted_!" The girl couldn't stop repeating.

"Shut up Liz," her brother, Liam O, nudged her.

"Whatever lil bro." Liam rolled his eyes at the term, considering they were only 12 minutes apart. "Dad, I'm so using that story during some dinner. You won't see it coming," she laughed.

"Daisy Liz Oken, listen to your brother," Oliver said as he lay on the couch next to them. He turned to his wife, "Why does that kid always have to be up to something mischievious?"

Lilly simply smiled, "Because she's your kid."

"I was not like that at ten. My evil genes didn't develop until high school. I was the nice one between us when we were young," he argued.

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Oliver, as far as you're conerned you were always the 'nice one'. No one could ever be nicer than you, bla bla bla."

"Okay, we're going to go outside," Liam spoke up quickly discerning another useless discussion between his parents. He hugged his mom before leaving, "That was a wonderful story mom and I think that deep down you always meant to be really nice because you knew you loved dad."

Lilly grinned proudly as she watched her twins leave, "Aw, my son's sucha mini poet."

"Of course. The calm one's _your _son, I get little miss always-out-to-get-you Liz."

Lilly picked up a pillow from the couch only to chuck it back at him, "Oh shut up you know you love them both and so do I. Their just as opposite as we can be, what do you expect?"

Oliver sat up and stared at her as he pulled her closer to him, "I don't hink I could have ever expected anything better than this." And kissed his wife of 12 years, but lifetime partner, deeply.

**

* * *

****Gosh I need to learn how to end things XD Well I figured the first chapter was extra long so the last might as well be. There were so many things I needed to conclude like how they got home, how Miley & Jada found out, and their future. I didn't feel like making another chapter so it proabably came out a bit choppy :/ Anyways, thank you for reading; hope you enjoyed it. xoxCamy **

**PS. If you guys have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. I'll either PM you or if there are enough questions I'll just write a quick answer update thingie. (:**


End file.
